Zombie Squad is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community service and disaster preparedness organization that uses the metaphor of a "

Zombie Apocalypse Zombie apocalypse is a genre of fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack hum ...

" for any natural or man-made disaster (

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

, terrorism,

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

, etc.). Zombie Squad was created by

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

fans who combined their shared interests of

zombies A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...

and experience with

disaster preparedness Emergency management or disaster management is the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actuall ...

. It describes itself as an "elite zombie suppression task force ready to defend your neighborhood from the shambling hordes of the walking dead".

History

Zombie Squad was created in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in the summer of 2003. After watching the British horror movie ''

28 Days Later ''28 Days Later'' is a 2002 British post-apocalyptic horror film directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland. It stars Cillian Murphy as a bicycle courier who awakens from a coma to discover the accidental release of a highly contagi ...

'', a group of friends began discussing how they would prepare for a zombie epidemic, and how they would have handled the challenges faced by the characters in the film. This was the initial inspiration for Zombie Squad. The stated goal of the organization is to present disaster

preparedness Preparedness is a research-based set of actions that are taken as precautionary measures in the face of potential disasters. Preparedness is an important quality in achieving goals and in avoiding and mitigating negative outcomes. There are differ ...

in a manner which allows for serious exploration of multiple worst-case scenarios, while still maintaining a sense of humor and remaining grounded in non-disaster life. Zombie Squad combines a large online presence via its forums with

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

and charity event participation to spread its message. Zombie Squad has members all over

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and members in countries all over the world, including the United States, Canada, UK and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

among others. The success may be due in part to the

synergy Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts. The term ''synergy'' comes from the Attic Greek word συνεργία ' from ', , meaning "working together". History In Christia ...

between two phenomena that have emerged in the new millennium: A resurgence of zombies in pop culture, with hit video games (the ''Resident Evil'' franchise, ''Dead Rising'' series, ''

Left 4 Dead ''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the ...

'', ''

Stubbs the Zombie Stubbs may refer to: Places United States *Stubbs, California, former name of Clearlake Oaks, California Clearlake Oaks is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, California, United States. It is located on the northeast of Clear Lake, ...

'', ''House of the Dead'' series, etc.), literature ('' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls'', ''The Walking Dead'' franchise, ''

World War Z ''World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War'' is a 2006 zombie apocalyptic horror novel written by American author Max Brooks. The novel is broken into eight chapters: “Warnings”, “Blame”, “The Great Panic”, “Turning the Ti ...

'', ''

The Zombie Survival Guide ''The Zombie Survival Guide'' is the first book written by American author Max Brooks, published in 2003. It is a satirical survival manual about zombies, containing information about zombie physiology and behavior, defense strategies and tacti ...

'') and films (''

'', the ''Resident Evil'' series, the ''Dawn of the Dead'' remake, ''

Shaun of the Dead ''Shaun of the Dead'' is a 2004 zombie comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and written by Wright and Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Shaun, a downtrodden salesman in London who is caught in a zombie apocalypse with his friend Ed (Nick Frost). The fi ...

'', ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the Li ...

'', ''

Zombieland ''Zombieland'' is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic zombie comedy film directed by Ruben Fleischer in his theatrical debut and written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The film follows a geeky college student ( Jesse Eisenberg) making his wa ...

'', etc.) combined with a renewed interest in disaster preparedness in the wake of

natural disasters A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econo ...

( 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia,

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

) and high-profile

terrorist attacks The following is a list of terrorist incidents that have not been carried out by a state or its forces (see state terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism). Assassinations are listed at List of assassinated people. Definitions of terrori ...

(failed millennium plots,

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

, 3/11, and the

2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

). Zombie Squad's strict organizational refusal to adopt any one

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

stance has also helped to create a community which is open to people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Despite Zombie Squad's tongue-in-cheek nature, the members of the organization bring a surprising amount of experience ranging from civilian

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

disaster response volunteers and

amateur radio emergency communications In times of crisis and natural disasters, amateur radio is often used as a means of emergency communication when wireline, cell phones and other conventional means of communications fail. Unlike commercial systems, amateur radio is usually ...

enthusiasts to professionally trained

paramedics A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

firefighters A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

personnel.

Concept

The basic concept behind Zombie Squad is that zombies are a useful

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for a worst-case scenario: if someone is prepared to survive the complete breakdown of society due to an uprising of the

living dead ''Living Dead'' is a blanket term for the loosely connected horror franchise that originated from the 1968 film ''Night of the Living Dead''. The film, written by George A. Romero and John A. Russo, primarily focuses on a group of people gath ...

, then he or she will be prepared for almost any real-world disaster or emergency conceivable. The zombie metaphor was chosen for humor, originality, and as a

bait and switch Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but when customers visit the store, they discover that the a ...

for

horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

fans,

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

fans,

gamers A gamer is a proactive hobbyist who plays interactive games, especially video games, tabletop role-playing games, and skill-based card games, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Some gamers are competitive, meaning they routinely ...

and others who otherwise may not be drawn to the idea of disaster preparedness or community involvement.

Forums

The bulk of Zombie Squad's disaster preparedness and survival information can be found in its forums. Additionally, some of this information makes its way to the main page and the Zombie Squad

RSS feed RSS ( RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed that allows users and applications to access updates to websites in a standardized, computer-readable format. Subscribing to RSS feeds can allow a user to keep track of many di ...

. The content of the forum is predominantly user-generated, and consists of a combination of information gathered from outside sources and personal experience. Collaboration between forum members transcends the forums proper, with members frequently joining together to perform "real life" activities related to preparedness (camping, mock "bug out" exercises, shooting range outings, etc.), take part in

fundraiser Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

s, socialize, or team up in online multiplayer games such as

Urban Dead ''Urban Dead'' is a free-to-play HTML/text-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by British developer Kevan Davis. Set in a quarantined region of the fictional city of Malton, it deals with the aftermath of a zombie outbre ...

and

World of Warcraft ''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...

. As of July 1st 2021 the forum has been deactivated.

Community service

One of the first major events that Zombie Squad participated in was the

Archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

convention in 2004. They hosted a

seminar A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

that dealt with basic disaster preparation under the guise of how to "survive a zombie apocalypse" which included the creation and use of a bug-out bag (or BOB), which they have continued to host annually at the convention. Since its inception in 2003, Zombie Squad has organized charity events for organizations such as

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

, Youth In Need, Feed My People, Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean County,

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) is a charitable organization dedicated to multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. The MMRF runs as if it were a for-profit business, expecting high returns from the money the organization rais ...

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Ch ...

, Project S.H.A.R.E. and they have held a fund raiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina and the

May 2007 tornado outbreak May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, Ma ...

. They have participated in several

flash mob A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs may be organized via t ...

-like events known as Zombie Walks to raise awareness for

blood drive Blood Drive may refer to: Donation *Blood drive, campaigns and special events to solicit blood donations Games *Blood Drive (video game), ''Blood Drive'' (video game), a 2010 vehicular combat video game for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 *''Corpse Pa ...

s for the American Red Cross and local food banks. Their contributions charity organizations have also included

zombie movie ''Zombie Movie'' is a short zombie film produced by 2Chums Moving Pictures in 2005. 2Chums Moving Pictures consisted mainly of Michael J. Asquith & Ben Stenbeck, both former employees at Weta Workshop and current employees at Valve. The movie wa ...

nights,

trivia Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. It can be contrasted with general knowledge and common sense. Latin Etymology The ancient Romans used the word ''triviae'' to describe where one road split or forked ...

nights,

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have ...

car races, food collection, and holiday parties.

Zombie Con

Zombie Squad's principal event is a convention known as Zombie Con. The first annual Zombie Con took place in June 2005, and was staged in the style of a

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

trip in

Irondale, Missouri Irondale is a city in Washington County, Missouri, United States. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. Geography Irondale is located at (37.835204, -90.672505). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , ...

. Zombie Con consists of survival educational seminars, trips to a local

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, sports venue, venue or playing field, field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice or shooting sport, competitions. So ...

, watching zombie movies and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

References

* *

External links

* {{official website, http://www.zombiehunters.org Emergency organizations Internet forums Organizations based in St. Louis Organizations established in 2003

Squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

Disaster preparedness

History

Concept

Forums

Community service

Zombie Con

See also

References

External links